Objective: To investigate the risk factors affecting the survival of patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) in different age groups. Methods: Information on 6089 GIST patients was screened from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Risk factor analysis was performed using a chi-square test (univariate analysis). Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method (log-rank test) and the COX proportional hazard model. p Value < .05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Analyzed statistically to reveal that in addition to tumor size, mitotic index, and primary location, age, gender, race, and surgical treatment also were independent risk factors for GISTs. Gender, race, and location of disease influenced the survival rate of patients, which was higher in the young group (≤60 years old) than the elderly group (>60 years). Risk factors such as primary location, tumor diameter, and mitotic index varied significantly between the different age groups. Conclusions: Age, gender, race, and surgical treatment are independent risk factors that influence the prognosis in patients with GISTs. Some risk factors affecting prognosis are age dependent.
Keywords: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors; age; prognosis; seer.